Box Score
MANSFIELD, Conn. – Third-seeded  Eastern Connecticut State University scored the final five goals of the first half and got points from nine different players in the game in an 18-6 victory over sixth-seeded University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in the first round of the 2024 Little East Conference playoffs Tuesday evening at Rick McCarthy Field.
 
With its fifth win in seven home contests this year, Eastern (9-8) advances to the semifinals Thursday at second-seeded Keene State College (11-5) at 6 p.m. Keene shared second place in the LEC with Eastern, but was awarded the No. 2 seed after defeating the Warriors, 14-6, on the final day of the regular season Saturday.
 
The team's  ninth straight win over UMass Dartmouth (9-8) and fourth in as many LEC playoff meetings with the Corsairs ends a five-game LEC playoff losing streak for Eastern which came on the heels of a 17-15 first-round home win over Keene State in 2018.
 
Tuesday, Eastern's defense forced 22 turnovers, limited the Corsairs to just 22 shots
and held UMD's top two scorers – who combined for 120 goals in the regular season – to four goals on 11 shots, only one of the goals coming when Eastern rolled up a 9-2 halftime lead.
 
Senior goalie Mackenzie Brown (Southington) made 12 saves and junior Abby Parisi (Fairfield) and sophomore Katie Campbell (Denver, CO) each had five of Eastern's 31 ground balls, with senior Kaylee Drobish (Wallingford) and Brown also collecting four. Nine different players caused at least one turnover.
 
Leading 4-2 less than two minutes into the second quarter, the Warriors held UMass off the board for 19 minutes, scoring seven straight goals – the last five of the first quarter and first two of the third.  Six different players contributed to those seven goals, with senior Jessie Pyrek-Bennett (Monroe) scoring the first two in that run and first-year midfielder Neely Hart (Colchester) closing the spurt five minutes into the second half.
 
In addition to scoring two man-up and one man-down goal, Eastern converted all four of its free-position attempts, with Hart going 2-for-2.
 
Sophomore Alexa Vizzini (Vernon, NJ) led Eastern with six goals, scoring back-to-back goals two minutes part in the second half to give her 50 on the season. Hart and Pyrek-Bennett chipped in three goals, with Parisi assisting on four goals while scoring two of her own. Vizzini won five draws and Drobish four to lift Eastern to a slim +2 advantage in that category.